Michelle Miles: It's Summertime!

You know how I know it’s officially Summer? It’s finally stopped raining (at least here in North Texas), school is out, Memorial Day is over, another birthday has come and gone and it’s June.

This weekend the husband and I were doing our weekend chores and I stopped to think how much it’s starting to feel like summer. With the early morning sun leaving slashes of light on the floor to the sounds of summer—baseball on the TV, lawn mowers, weed eaters, leaf blowers, the hum of the AC—it’s hard to believe we’re already in the sixth month of the year. Where does the time go? Does it speed up when I’m not looking? Or am I just so busy that I don’t realize the days are flying off the calendar?

At any rate, I can’t believe it’s summer. The rest of the year always seems to go so fast once we get into June and before we know it the holidays will be here. But right now I’m thinking about vacation and RWA Nationals and getting through the hottest months of the year (July and August) and writing. Lots of things are happening in my world—things I can’t talk about yet—but I’m going to be one busy girl this summer.

Plus I’m looking forward to re-releasing my Realm of Honor series on July 25 starting with the first three books.

Under the Princess Crown with L. A. Kelley & Second Chance City #MFRWorg #paranormal #newbook

L. A. Kelley lives in Florida where the heat and humidity have driven everyone slightly mad. In her spare time, she calls in Bigfoot sightings to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. They are heartily sick of hearing from her.

Speed Round:

Favorite movie: Star Wars
Favorite book: The Martian by Andy Weir
Last book read: Rain by Cynthia Barnett
Favorite color: Purple
Stilettos or flip-flops: Bare feet, baby
Coffee or tea: tea
E-book or paperback: either
Pencil or pen: pencil (as long as it has an eraser)

Favorite song: Shut Up and Dance

Streak or not: Not (The neighbors have complained)

Favorite dessert: Too many to list

Champagne or gin: Abstain

Paranormal or Historical: Historical paranormal

Ginger or Mary Ann: Lovey

@sloanebcollins What Makes a Hero Tick? #PlottingPrincesses #amwriting #AlphaHeroes #Supernatural #JensenAckles #JaredPadalecki #MFRWorg

I love reading books with Alpha heroes.  It’s much easier for me to write about female characters, and how they think, than to write male characters.  I’ve started watching TV shows more carefully in the hopes of figuring out how to best write men that SHOW what’s going on with them, what they are thinking, how they act, rather than TELL. 

I’ve come about 10 years late to the Supernatural phenomenon, and now I’m hooked (and I mean HOOKED).  Having loved Jared Padalecki's character on Gilmore Girls, Sammy immediately became my favorite.  But the more I’ve been watching the reruns, the more I see the internal angst that Dean (Jensen Ackles) has. I’m fascinated by their relationship on screen, and completely charmed that they are best friends in real life.

I started watching the reruns from 2009 a couple months ago, but am now watching the first season, and it's interesting to see how the characters have grown over the years.  So here's my take on it.

.#PlottingPrincesses ~ Alicia Dean: will she expire without coffee? #Author #Interview #MFRWorg

Kicking off 2015 with an author interview! The Plotting Princesses welcome Alicia Dean. 

Let's get to know her:

Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. She has three grown children and a huge network of supportive friends and family. She writes mostly contemporary suspense and paranormal, but has also written in other genres, including a few vintage historicals.

Favorite movie: Gone with the Wind

Favorite book: Mystic River
Last book read: Guardian
Favorite color: Red
Stilettos or flip-flops: Neither (so what do you wear, Alicia?)
Coffee or tea: Strong Coffee
E-book or paperback: E-book
Pencil or pen: Pen

Favorite song: Something Elvis – Can’t choose one

TIME FOR SOME TEASERS - by Kathy Ivan

Well, here it is late July and lots of romance authors are swarming Anaheim as I write this post. The Romance Writers of America's annual convention is taking place this week. Industry professionals, published and aspiring romance writers all together under one roof. It gives a whole new meaning to "Magic Kingdom."

For those of us who didn't make the trek out to Nationals, I think its time to share some snippets of our current stories with our readers. You don't have to be a Princess to post up to ten (10) lines from your current story. Give your fellow romance aficionados' a glimpse of where the muse is taking you.

In the comment section, give your name, the genre of the story, its working title, and NO MORE THAN ten (10) lines. Just a brief moment of magic to whet our appetites for more.

I'll start us off below.

I HEART BOOKS by Kathy Ivan

I was very fortunate. My lovely sister gave me Amazon.com gift cards for my birthday, so I could load up my Kindle Fire. Wasn't that sweet of her? Anyway, I ordered a few books I'd wanted to buy, from authors I know and have read in the past, which is always fun. But I want to try something or somebody different. So, in the spirit of finding new authors, I'm going to open up today's blog for your suggestions and recommendations.

If you are a reader, I want your inside scoop. Who are you currently reading? Is it a print book or are you into E-books?

If you are an author, you can list information about one (and unfortunately only 1) of your releases. We have to keep the space limited—if you post more than one book the additional ones will be deleted. To keep everything consistent and to keep my head from exploding from too much information, please follow the format below. (Hint: I'll list mine here, so you get an idea of what I'm talking about.)

TITLE: Desperate Choices
AUTHOR: Kathy Ivan
PUBLISHER: Carina Press
GENRE: Romantic suspense with paranormal elements
FORMAT: E-Book only
AVAILABLE AT: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Carina Press website, and wherever E-books are sold.

Entangled, a Paranormal Anthology

by Michelle Miles

I'm so excited to talk about the new anthology I'm in. It's a paranormal/Halloween anthology called Entangled. It's available as an ebook at B&N, Amazon, Smashwords and other fine online retailers. It will sell for $2.99 through October and then $3.99 thereafter.

I know most people don't like anthologies. But the thing that's unique about this one is that all the proceeds will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Eleven of us have banded together to support breast cancer research with our writing. Authors4theCure includes award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors, as well as two breast cancer survivors.

BCRF-funded research has helped save lives and improved the quality of care and rate of survival for tens of thousands of breast cancer patients in the past decade. Their research has revealed that the "cure" is a mosaic made up of as many approaches to diagnosing, treating, preventing and surviving as there are different types of breast cancer. The anthology is also a mosaic made up of many stories donated for this worthwhile cause.

I hope you'll pick up Entangled, not only for the fantastic stories but for helping an awesome cause.